NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.
Why should this have even been a game? What is it that could get the Chiefs to play so good at the end of the year when they have so little to play for?

KC took the early 17 - 7 lead in the first half, but the Bronco’s came back to take the lead and then made a goal line stand to hold it.

The Broncos finally found a way to win at home Sunday, rallying past Kansas City 24-17, but they lost their sixth tailback when bulldozing rookie Peyton Hillis went down with a strained right hamstring.

Bell came in and helped the Broncos (8-5) snap a three-game losing skid at home by rumbling for 52 yards on 11 carries, including a crucial 28-yard run on Denver’s game-winning, 95-yard touchdown drive.

Cornerback Dre’ Bly then stuffed Kansas City quarterback Tyler Thigpen a yard shy of the end zone on fourth-and-goal to seal the Broncos’ first win at home since Oct 5 and atone for their lopsided loss to the Chiefs (2-11) in September.
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Denver loses another running back and yet still has a three game lead on the underperforming San Diego Chargers.

What is it about division games? The Chiefs have only two victories and wouldn’t you know it, one of them is against the Chiefs. Can you even name one player beyond Larry Johnson? Division games bring you two teams that just seem to know each other to well.

Denver is playing for the Division title. They should have romped, not struggled.

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This is the part of Fantasy Football that is just so hard to take.

Tyler “who” Thigpen scored more Fantasy Football points than Jay Cutler. Thigpen threw for 2 TDs and Cutler could only manage 1 against the meager Falcon defense.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Tyler plays for Kansas City. You remember, the Chiefs, former kind of good team and now 1 -9 fighting for the number one pick of the draft.

My Fantasy team goes down in flames.

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Tom Brady walks off with knee injury. There was no further update

Is it easy to be a Patriot fan or what?

Tom Brady hurts his knee and leaves the game and they still win the game 17 - 10 over Kansas City.

The Patriots have been lucky that Brady has not been hurt more often. Most quarterbacks are…

Tom Brady has started 128 consecutive games, which, frankly, is beyond fortunate. No one knows today when he will start the next one because the greatest fear of every Patriots fan - not to mention the owner, the coach, and Brady’s teammates - was realized in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium when the whistle blew and Brady failed to get up.

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In marches Matt Cassel and leads the Patriots to victory over the Kansas City Chiefs and helps Randy Moss secure his place in the NFL list of great receivers.

Cassel was impressive on his first possession, starting at his 2. With a third down at the 1, he threw a 51-yard completion to Moss.

“We had them deep into their territory,” defensive tackle Glen Dorsey said, “but they made a good play.”

Eight plays later, Cassel and Moss hooked up for a 10-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

It was Moss’ 126th touchdown, tying Jim Brown for eighth most overall, and 125th on a reception, tying him for fourth in NFL history.

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Yeah, the fans were hurting, but as you can see it is easy to be a Patriots fan. They rarely feel any pain.

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Larry is eating healthy and looking strong

Two years ago, as luck would have it, my Fantasy Football prime time running back was Larry Johnson. My other running back was that other Johnson, Rudi. The regular season was mine as both backs had great years. We won’t discuss the Fantasy Football League Playoffs. They did not go well.

Last year, Larry Johnson’s season did not go well either. He missed 9 games with injuries. Since then, Larry has decided to lose some weight and come back a different back. Leaner and Meaner!

He is lighter on his feet with the added muscle, the elusiveness flashed on the practice field recently with a sprint to the corner of the end zone to cap a goal-line series. But Johnson, hailing his core-strengthening work during the offseason, is even more bullish on his upgraded endurance. He remembers how dead his legs were in a playoff loss at Indianapolis (13 rushes, 32 yards) following his big 2006 season, and believes he’s found an answer for that.

“No matter how much rest they gave me,” he recalls, “I had to force myself to run. I had no strength there. Coming in refreshed
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Oh, Larry is still 6′ 1″ tall and 230 pounds, but he has reduced his body fat from 12% to 7%.

Chiefs need Larry Johnson

Larry needs to be ready. Kansas City needs to come back and get into the playoffs and cannot do it without a big year from LJ.

Don’t look for Larry to lead the league in carries though, because the new offensive coordinator for Herm Edwards is Chan Gailey and he would like to have the running backs do a little more receiving and less running. Oh, and he did say running backs, plural. The two running back theory in the NFL is still alive and well.

Can Larry catch passes and run less often? The Kansas City Chiefs will depend on it.

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Chiefs

Pete Prisco of CBS Sports.com found KC to be a big winner in the 2008 NFL draft.

The Chiefs’ draft started with defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey and offensive tackle Branden Albert in the first round and they continued right through the draft. Even sixth-round pick Kevin Robinson, a return man from Utah State, could be an immediate contributor.

From start to finish, the Chiefs cashed in big. That’s why they get the only premium grade in this report card.

Kansas City Chiefs

Best pick: They saw Dorsey fall to them with the fifth pick. He was the top player on half the boards in the league.

Questionable move: I like Texas running back Jamaal Charles, but do the Chiefs really need to be using a third-round pick on a back with Larry Johnson on the roster?

Second-day gem: Sixth-round pick Barry Richardson, a tackle out of Clemson, is massive (6-7, 338) and was once considered a first-day possibility.

Overall grade: A+. They had a lot of picks and used them well. Good thing, too. They need a lot of help.

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Redskins

Charles Robinson of Yahoo Sports graded the draft for the NFC.

Washington came out a winner.

Washington Redskins
Picks: WR Devin Thomas, TE Fred Davis, WR Malcolm Kelly, OL Chad Rinehart, DB Justin Tryon, P Durant Brooks, DB Kareem Moore, QB Colt Brennan, DL Rob Jackson, DB Chris Horton
Positives: Thomas, Davis, Kelly, Brooks
Negative: Defensive end not addressed until the seventh round.
Bottom line:A. Ten overall picks with lots of potential from top to bottom. The two wideouts slipped a little and could all end up providing great value. Thomas and Kelly could develop into quality big targets, and an AFC scout told Yahoo! Sports in February that Davis was the best overall talent at tight end in this draft. The punter need was addressed with the best one the college game had to offer in Brooks. Brennan is an intriguing pick late in the sixth round. A lot of potential starters in this draft.
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Too bad there is no trophy for the draft victory.

Even worse is the fact that no one really knows what will happen with all these picks for a couple of years.

NFL Football special comment It feels good if your team is a draft winner, but it feels better if they win in the regular season.

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The hot rumor revolves around the Raiders at pick number 4.

At a time when many league observers believe that the Oakland Raiders won’t be able to resist the 4.33 speed of running back Darren McFadden with the fourth overall pick in the draft, a league source tells us that there are “strong indications” that the Raiders will select Ohio State linebacker/defensive end Vernon Gholston according to Profootballtalk.com

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Vernon Gholston to the Raiders?

Image details: Ohio State Buckeyes v Washington Huskies served by picapp.com

Still McFadden is hard to resist. Gholston would be a better long term build.

Meanwhile in Miami

Big Tuna is making a move or is he?

Parcells and the Miami Dolphins have begun contract negotiations with the agent for potential top draft pick Jake Long, a person familiar with the talks said Thursday. The person did not want to be identified because the Dolphins have been coy about their plans for the No. 1 pick.

Negotiations with Long’s agent, Tom Condon, don’t necessarily mean Miami has ruled out other prospects. The new Dolphins regime, led by Parcells, could use the talks to increase contract leverage with other potential picks.

The Dolphins also are interested in trading the No. 1 pick, but so far no suitors have surfaced.

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Miami is so far from winning that Jake Long would be a good solid pick for years to come. My guess is that Miami wants to trade down to get additional players.

Baltimore Ravens

Ozzie Newsome and the Ravens need a QB. Matt Ryan is there for the taking if they can move up or get lucky.

In reality, the Ravens really only need to worry about three franchises: the Miami Dolphins (first overall pick), Atlanta Falcons (third) and Kansas City Chiefs (fifth). Everyone else currently ahead of the Ravens appears fixed on other areas, and the quarterback-needy teams behind Baltimore don’t appear to have enough ammunition to move up. And regarding the Ravens’ troublesome trio, there have been encouraging signs in recent days.

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It has already been mentioned that Miami is looking at Jake Long, or even Chris Long. Atlanta is looking real hard at defensive tackle Glen Dorsey, and the Chiefs are looking at everyone, so Baltimore could sit still and get lucky.

It is all a jumble right now and teams keep positioning themselves for the draft.

Right now Miami holds the key.

NFL Football special comment Linemen are needed to build a team. So why are skill players so irresistible?

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Today we examine the Top Ten draft picks.

Michael Pitzer at USAToday will be our guide.

The Squibster will comment in italics.

Matt Ryan - The new face of the Dolphins?

1. Miami Dolphins -

Expect plenty of subterfuge from the Dolphins during the next two months; you’re better off not believing anything you hear from them. General manager Jeff Ireland threw open the door for a trade when he told the NFL Network at the Senior Bowl, “We’re open for business.” The Dolphins, who drafted John Beck in the second round a year ago, need to make a decision at quarterback. If they don’t like Beck or their options in free agency, then Boston College’s Matt Ryan would make sense. If not, look for Miami to go for defense. source

Isn’t it odd how Miami football and basketball have fallen on hard times. You can read about NBA Basketball at NBAObsessed, my other blog, but suffice it to say that Pat Riley has a plan to rebuild the team in 1 year after losing the Shaq. Does Bill Parcells have a plan? Well, most likely, but he has not told me in person, yet.

My guess is they go for Matt Ryan, even though that would go against conventional logic for building a team. (You build the lines first) Miami needs a new face and QB Matt Ryan could provide that face. Add in the fact that Bill Parcells believes in the quick turnaround. He has pulled it off himself, before. Logic still dictates trading down.

2. St. Louis Rams - Michael says no to the QB, and uses the level of health to determine whether they go for Jake Long, Virginia defensive end Chris Long, or LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

Make it Jake Long, you can’t go wrong.

3-5 (order to be determined by coin flip). Atlanta Falcons - Ryan or Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.

McFadden, with no QB, Atlanta will need some kind of run game.

3-5. Kansas City Chiefs - The Chiefs Read more

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Mike Florio of Yahoo.com took a look around the NFL and gives you his Top 5 Trends for the NFL for next year. Your intrepid author’s comments are in italics.

1. College coaches need not apply

The Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino experiences are all the evidence any NFL owner should need to scratch the names of all college coaches from the list of candidates for open jobs in January ‘08….

In college, the best coaches are the best recruiters. He who hoards the most talent can win without a 100-page playbook, a game plan or a well-timed time out. Pro football has a flat playing field — leveled by the salary cap and free agency. So the talent gap is small.

NFL success arises from finding a way to consistently get more out of players of, for the most part, relatively equal abilities.

Squibster: Whoa, hold on here. Don’t condemn all college coaches for Saban and Petrino. Certainly a college coach may need some learning time, but come on. Besides, owners are not this smart or we would not have the Detroit Lions.

2. It’s still a league of quarterbacks

Though talent is compressed in the NFL, the biggest differences exist at the quarterback position. There simply isn’t one capable quarterback per franchise…

The dynamic is played out most obviously in Minnesota, where young starter Tarvaris Jackson has been unable to take advantage of the eight-man fronts clogging Adrian Peterson’s running lanes…

It’s no coincidence that the best teams feature guys like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning and Tony Romo and Brett Favre. As long as they play at a high level, their teams will remain in contention for the Lombardi Trophy.

Squibster: Hey no mention of Jon Kitna? Thus the value of Read more